Perth - Gracias 2010/11: Canada World Youth Adventure II

A lot has happened since I last updated and so it seems like it has been a lot longer than about 2 weeks (?). . .
That last paragraph may seem a bit contradictory.  And it is, but that's just how it is!  Traveling is kind of like being lost in a time warp where there is no time. . .it seems to go really slowly AND really quickly simultaneously. . .so this may be another lengthy update.

taste-testing!

Heritage tomatoes from Greta's Seed saving workshop

Drying seeds for saving

Farm work is going really well.  I really enjoy being outdoors all day picking veg, weeding, planting, tilling, going to market and selling the veg every Saturday, extracting honey, mosquito bites (? ok i don't love those >.<), lying in the hammocks that are made my by host family (!!!).  It's pretty awesome :)  It is definitely not easy work, but it is fun and rewarding!  The farm itself is in a beautiful location.  The population of the town (? village? hamlet?) I currently live in is about 800 people!  It's really hilly and so it's great training on the bike!!  Which, btw, I have had brought to me by my lovely parents who won a stay in Kingston (approx 1 hour from Perth).  I'm so spoiled! :) hee hee
 

Greta's farm house

My counter-part Gaby and I have been doing a lot of things besides farm work too!  We've gone swimming in the rivers close to the farm, fishing for dinner(Gaby is a pro at fishing apparently. . .although it was only her second time!) and biking (to get homemade icecream 10k away!).  We are having a really good time together and getting along really well.

Blue Chicory Farm

As a part of the Canada World Youth program we are scheduled to meet up with the rest of the group every week for an "Educational Activity Day" (EAD).  Each counter-part pair is assigned to a different work project but our program (Perth-Honduras) is focused on Food Safety and Security/Environment and so all of the work projects are related to that theme.  Gaby and I are working on Blue Chicory Organic Farm (as I mentioned last time), other pairs are working at: The Salvation Army,  The Food Bank, Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, The Art of Being Green, Plenty Canada, Rideau Environmental Action League, to name a few.  Through our different experiences, we learn different aspects of the program's focus that we are expected to share with the rest of the group; hence the EADs.  Last Tuesday Gaby and I were assigned to present the first EAD to our group!!!  Our topic was "Power, privilege and oppression in Farming" which we decided upon ourselves.  We didn't know we would be the first pair to present though o_O  BUT, thanks to my Japanese mom Hirano-san, I had lots of good ideas from her wonderful workshops that I attended in Japan and was able to incorporate some of them into Gaby and my presentation!!!  Everyone was really impressed with the EAD that we ran and the supervisor's were happy that we set the bar high :)

Blue Chicory Garden

cute summer squash :)

For one part of the EAD we watched part of the excellent documentary "The Future of Food" (you can watch the whole thing for free if you follow the link!).  We also had Susan Quipp, a Perth resident, come in and talk to the group about her involvement with the activists working against closing the Prison Farms in Canada.  You can learn more about the issue and the organization working against the government here.  Margaret Atwood has also spoken out about the issue. It's a really interesting and troubling issue that is having a huge effect of people just around the corner from us here in Perth.

And finally, if you have watched the video that I attached you may feel inspired, or you may already feel inspired to add your name to this petition to stop the FDA from approving genetically modified Salmon for human consumption!

All in all, I'm learning a lot, loving life, and doing great here in Perth :)  SUPER FANTASTICALLY excited to be going to Honduras to be totally thrown out of my comfort zone in less than 2 MONTHS!!!!

Perth - Gracias 2010/11: Canada World Youth Adventure I

The first week has been pretty intense and busy!!  Our project started last Friday (August 6th) with all of the Canadian participants doing exchange projects with Honduras.  It turns out that there are 3 groups who are doing exchanges with Honduras this year.  One is paired with a community in North Bay, another is a women's group working out of Hamilton for their Canadian phase and last but not least (and by far the best of the 3 ;) ) The Perth-Gracias group!! haha
The Canadians gathered at Pearson Airport on Friday and were bussed of to Mt. Mary in Hamilton for a 4 day, 3 night training and orientation camp.  We met up with out Honduran counterparts the following day!  We were then run through mazes, impossible logic problems, and death-defying physical challenges.  No just kidding, but we DID have to sit through 3 full days (9:30am-10pm) of cultural sensitivity training, seminars on sexual harassment, power, privilege and oppression, and lots of other wonderful things with 17 strangers who were to be our family for the next 6 months.  After that, we were all piled on a bus (again) and driven to Perth for another 3 full days of seminars -__-  So it's been a pretty heavy week!  Nothing compares though to our first week of the BEE ride last year through Hokkaido.  Since I survived that, and STILL had a great time, I'm more or less convinced that I can get through a full week of pretty much anything and still be in high-spirits ;) haha

Frame collected from one of the Bee hives at Blue Chicory

So, more specifically to me, I have been paired with a girl named Gaby from Honduras. She is 19 and is a very good singer. She is also awesome! It's only been a few days and I'm sure we will have some tough moments, but I think we will have a great time working together for the next 6 months. We get along really well and seem to have a similar communication style and understanding :)

extraction!

We are working at Blue Chicory Farm about 30min outside of the small town of Perth. It is TOTAL country-side and I am in love. There are a number of small fields for the vegetables that the farm is growing, about 25 chickens (there was a small chicken massacre the day we arrived though. It seems that a fox got into the chicken coup :( ), and Honey bees!! We haven't done much farm work yet due to the 3 days of seminars in Perth that we were required to attend, but we extracted some honey on Friday before the farmer's market (which was Saturday) and it was amazing. Bee's are so cool! I'm so excited to learn more about them over the next few months. I'm also very excited to learn more about organic farming!!

Our table at the Perth Farmer's Market!

The best carrots i've ever tasted. seriously.

another view of our table

We also had a movie night last night for a sneak preview of the new documentary "The clean bin project".  It is about a couple from Vancouver that challenged each other to a competition of least waste production over the course of a year.  The goal was 0 waste.  They also decided to film the competition and made it into a documentary that they are now biking across Canada to promote!  They were all the way in Perth yesterday and are heading out towards Ottawa and then Montreal from here!  If you have time and are in the area, check them out!
Alright, so this update is getting pretty long. . .and it's only been a week!!!!

CWY volunteers enjoying a day off together :)

But I'm having an amazing time so far!  I'm so happy to be on this exchange and am really looking forward to the rest of the journey.  We've met so many incredible people already!
Hope you are doing great wherever you are and whatever you are doing too.

Park in Perth